Space Manoeuvres – Oid

On the other hand, I'd say this album does dissapoint. Stage One is a massive track, and the first two tracks, an ambient piece which leads into Stage One, made it seem as if the album was going to be utterly massive. But ultimately a string of boring tracks with not much going on yields an overall lousy attempt at emulating the power of the "Stage One" monster. Could have been better with more breaks, more ambient pieces, more variation in style, and a better attention to detail. Many of these tracks would work well in a club, but this album is designed for listening, and the tracks should be interesting enough to keep the listeners attention, which they hardly did.

Quivver/Space Manoeuvres, also part of Tilt, has no doubt contributed much to the dance scene. But this album hardly reflects the energetic and deep tracks and remixes he has done in the past, making this release ultimately not very satisfying.

...One of the best albums ever from well known progressive house artist...
After some years finding sound and inspiration for his lovely fable, finally he kicks off the dance music scene for the new experience. It's a true masterpiece...all sounds, all samples and other music units are construct very shimmering space journey that can't stop you...you'll need to bring it back to the start and listen some more times.
Call him wizard, call him master or somehow else, but this man is doing great things with no doubt. So, let's wait for his future productions indeed.

Eleven years since he first began making waves in the electronic music industry with his progressive house classic "Twist & Shout", John "Quivver" Graham has finally released a full-fledged artist album. Well, that is, full fledged mini-album. Clocking in at just under an hour, one can't really complain about the length, and there is certainly no lack of substance here. Those who've been paying attention will, of course, remember the massive "Stage One" presented here unchanged from its original 1999 release, still amazing as ever. Last year's "Part Three" also makes the play list, along with January's "Quadrant Four". While it's great that these tracks were included, it somewhat hinders one's ability to enjoy the album to it's fullest. Minus the aforementioned tracks (and the 40 second "Zero Downtime"), this leaves only four new tracks. Not much of a complaint really, but this was a factor that affected my listening experience that I feel other's should be aware of.

So how are the new tracks? While nothing will sweep you away like "Stage One" did in 1999, there is not a single bad track here. "Zone Two" is a funky breaks number that will have your toes tapping in no time to its simple, yet infectious melodies. "Pentexplorer" on the other hand is a deep, devastating, industrial big beat-esque track that explores deep space in classic Graham style. "Division Six" was my favorite of the new tracks. The track combines a funky 4/4 beat, a twisting sub-sonic bass line, a warped xylophone, and some slightly distorted piano to create something truly catchy, and truly original. The last track, "The Seventh Planet", concludes the album in superb style. Although some samples from "Stage One" are re-used, this is a completely original down-tempo reinterpretation that will leave you longing for the intergalactic paradise that this track paints in your head.

Bottom line, OID does not disappoint. Those looking for an expansion of the grandiose deep space odyssey alluded to in "Stage One" will find it here. Artist albums from long-time favorite singles producers can sometimes miss the mark when the artists explore out side of their respective genres. This is a perfect example of an electronic music album done right.